Local materials make timber framed home stand out
Publication: Estes Park Trail Gazette
Date: March 2017
Author: Daniel West
Using locally sourced wood and traditional pegged mortice and timber joinery the Brewster Timber Frame Company recently brought its custom hand-crafted building style to Estes Park.
Steven Rundquist started his timber framing company on Cape Cod, Mass., before moving to Colorado in 1998. Since then he’s completed home, barn and commercial projects all over the Front Range.
His most recent project was a single family home completed on Middle High Dr. in Estes Park.
Timbers for this custom home were locally sourced pine timbers with some beetle kill and fire seasoned pine timbers included. The cathedral ceiling installed in the home is made of aspen tongue in groove boards.
The timber frame is hand crafted locally by Rundquist and his two partners, Mike DuRant of Fort Collins and Daryl Sigler of Loveland, at his yard in LaPorte. There the three men fabricate the timbers using hand tools and power tools. Timbers are hand planed and sanded.
“We start with the heavy timbers and use a lot of local pine,” Rundquist said. “We’ll cut and layout the joints beforehand.”
The crew does all the work themselves and only takes on one project at a time giving each home or building plenty of attention to detail and allowing for customization.
“Customer service is most important,” Rundquist said. “We don’t make promises we can’t follow through on.”
The company also specializes in utilizing structural insulated panels (SIP) in their projects, which Rundquist said makes the homes they build energy efficient. The crew also takes care of general carpentry tasks from framing through finish including siding, trim, flooring, stairs, interior finish, exterior decks and railings.